1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making comparative acoustic measurements with a patient and includes an opto-plastic earpiece which mounts in the ear and has an opening which can receive either an in-the-ear or a behind-the-ear hearing aid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An opto-plastic earpiece having a hollow interior into which an in-the-ear hearing aid is at least partially insertable is disclosed, for example, in Swiss Pat. No. 648,172.
European patent application No. 01 40 078 discloses a behind-the-ear hearing aid which is connected to an ear button by means of a sound-conducting-tube and the ear button is insertable into the auditory passage of the ear.
The question as to which apparatus, in other words, the behind-the-ear hearing aid or in-the-ear hearing aid is the best solution for a hearing-impaired person in acoustical terms is usually clarified by making comparative acoustic measurements. For this purpose, both apparatus types are utilized by the hearing-impaired person in succession and he makes the decision as to which apparatus provides him with better hearing.
There is a disadvantage in that every apparatus type requires its own individual opto-plastic earpiece such as a housing shell for in-the-ear hearing aids and ear buttons for behind-the-ear hearing aids for mounting in the auditory passage. The manufacture of two separate opto-plastic earpieces is time-consuming and expensive. When a number of units of each apparatus type are acoustically compared to one another, it takes a substantial time in the prior art devices and this substantially increases the cost of servicing the patient. When using different individual opto-plastic earpieces, it is also not always possible to be assured that completely identical coupling conditions exist. So as to assure at least somewhat identical coupling conditions, particular care must be used when introducing the respective opto-plastic earpiece into the auditory passage so as to provide precise sealing from the outside and so forth. The insertion procedure requires a substantial amount of time. Since the acoustic memory of the hearing-impaired person is generally relatively short, misinterpretations of the acoustic comparison can occur due to this substantial time between the two tests.